Casing roller



f KVAloNrrle-.o`snirss "Patented Aug. 17935 i 2.011,03@ o 1 ...CASING RLLER Y Y Andre'xvavVv I. Colmerauer, Redondo leachv,` Calif. VApplicimm February 2o, lesa-sealNo.171a156 l .35:laims.

` My invention relatesfto casing rollers such asV fare used for swedging out pipe orcasingwhen it hascollapsed. f1 1, f ,1

In oil well operations it is common practice in many fields to line the well `with tubularr casing. This casing is usually cemented in place andcan not be removed .from the wellwithout damaging it beyond repair. It is not` uncommon forlwellcasing to collapse in one or more places due to various reasons such as rock'pressure,` shiftingl-frnia-v tions, crooked wells, earthquakes, crthe placing of too much weight on the casing while cementing it in place. When casing has collapsed for `any reason it is commonV practice to attempt to bring it back to its normal tubular shape.VV The swedges commonly used for this/purpose are called casing rollers and usually consist" of a cylindrical, wedge shaped body adapted to be? screwed on the lower end of a string of; drill pipe and provided with series of small rollers mounted on pins secured in recesses in 'the body.- `The swedge is rotated and pushed downwardly bythe `drill pipe until it has forcedit's way thru theco'llapsedportion of the casing." ,Y i f A* The trouble with theusualfca'sing rollers is that the bearing pressure onthe small-roller pins is so 4great that the rollers, 4pins and bearings wear excessively rapidly and in many instances therollers and pins Vare unable' towithstand 'the "pressure necessary to swedge out th casinglk It is an objectof `the present invention are greatly reduced.

Another object is tdprovide a casing roller hav-` ing a much greater bearing area than is'possible -with rollersrof the usual design; y l

. Another object is to provide acasingrollerlhavi y fingan eccentric swed'ginggaction` whiohexerts great lateral pressure against the casing.`

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from a study of the followingspecifications and the accompanying drawing `wherein Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of onfornof my `invention in which'the rol-lersl'and body are cylindrical and the'rollers are mounted on eccentric sleeves. l

Figure 2 is a Ysectionaltelevation of 'another form, of my inventionin which the rollers: are

` cylindrical, the body is eccentric, and 4there are to provide a casingv roller in which the bea-ring pressures a cylindrical bodyI 4provided at its upper end with a4` threaded `portion 2 adapted to be connected to a string offrotary drill pipe `(not shown). The body may'be'provided with central axial uid :passage 3 altho 'this is not essential. A series of 'U cylindrical rollers 4 are mounted. on the body with 4their axes' parallel to the vertical axis of the body. Interp-osed Vbetween each roller and the body is an Feccentric bushingor sleeve -5which is nonro'tatablyf;` secured` to. the body by any suitable means `such as the key 6. The rollers 4 are freely rotatable on thesleeve's 5 but are held from longitudinal movement by any suitable means. In the `present'instance Vthe body diameter is reduced as shownat 'i forming a shoulder 8 which prevents upward movementI of the rollers and sleeves on the body. The lower end of the body is provided withal nose in the form of a wedge shaped cone -9 rotatably secured to the body by any suitable means,"'for example, aring of balls IB fitting in complementary-grooves I I and I2 in the cone and body respectively. The balls are inserted thru an opening I3 in the cone and are heldin place by a screw plug im' I prefer that the body I be reduced in1 diameter at the lower end. as shown at -I5 where` the cone 9 is attached, and I also prefer 'thatthe reduced portion I5` be eccentric` to the body,V as shown. The-lower extremity ofthe body I I is reduced to a still smaller diameter and is preferably tapered as; shown at I6 to receivea corre- Ispending taperin the cone 9. The cone retains v -`the rollers from moving downwardly on the body. Any. number, of rollers 4 may be provided, as devsired.V Thexsleeves Sare keyed in position so that ,the eccentric Y portions are` oppositely disposed `around the periphery of the body.v Obviously the body I-could be provided with eccentric bearing .surfaces integral with the body (as shown in Fig. 2) so -that the sleeves 5 might be cylindrical instead of eccentric. By successively reducing the .diameter of the body lanyV desired number of rolllers can be used.` Y

j The rollers mayfall be of the same diameter or they maybe of different diameters with the larger rollers at thei top of the tool and the smaller roll ers atvthe'lower end. InFig. l I have shown the threedower rollers asbeing of` equal diameters andgsmaller than the two `upper rollers `which are "of equal but largerdiameters, I have found this .tapered `construction to be particularly useful in rolling casingV which is most-diicult'to expand withaseries of straight rollers. Y

In operation, the body .I is attached to the lower end of astring of rotary drill pipe and .loweredfnieihe .Well Casing until the sleeve 5 rests upon the collapsed portion of the casing. The drill pipe and body are then rotated and gradually lowered thru the casing. The reduced portion of the cone 9 readily enters between the collapsed walls of the casing and as the body is rotated the' eccentrics force the rollers 4 and cone 9 outwardly against the casing walls with great lateral pressure. The rollers 4 do not rotate on the casing wall and therefore do not wear out the casing. whichis an important factor. The large bearing area between theeccentric sleeves 5 and the rollers 4 results in greatly reduced bearing pressures and consequently lengthens the life of the tool considerably and makes it possible to apply greater pressures than can be successfully applied to casing rollers of the usual type. The cone 9 and the adjacent body at l5 and l5 receive the greatest Wear and 'may be hardened in any suitable manner as by carburizing, nitriding or hard facing. The rollers, sleeves and body may also be hardened if desired.A

Figure 2 shows a somewhat simpler arrangement than that shown in Fig. l. The body Il is successively reduced in diameter as shown at I8, i9, and 20, each reduction being arranged so that one side is flush with the outside diameter of the body portion next above it (with the exception of the first stage of reduction which forms a retaining shoulder I S on the body) .the reduced portions of the body at i8 and 2@ being cylindrical and concentric with the axis of the body and the reduced portion lbeing cylindrical and eccentric to the axis of the body. No bushings or sleeves are shown in'Fig. 2 which simplifies the construction but increases the maintenance cost since the body must be replaced or built up frequently. The rollers 2l and 22 are cylinders.

Fig. '3 shows still another form of my invention .in which the body 23 is provided with a concentric portion 24 and an eccentric portion 25. The upper roller 26 on the concentric portion of the body 24 is mounted on anreccentric sleeve 2l keyed to the body as shown at 28. Thelower roller 29 is likewise cylindrical and is mounted on a concentric sleeve 3i) keyed to the body at 3i. In order to hold the lower roller 29 in place I may use the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2 or I may provide a pin 32 adapted to t in a recess 33 in thel'ower end of the body 23. The pin 32 is provided with an enlarged flange 34 'adapted to abut against the lower` end of the body. The flange 34 is threaded to receive a threaded ring 35 which serves to retain the rollers and sleeves in place. The pin 32 may be secured in the recess 33 by means of threads or by means of a pin 3i? which fits in a hole 3'1-38 in the body and pin 32. The sleeve 3l) retains the pin 38 in place. The lower end of pin 32 is provided with a spherical head or ball 39 with a reduced neck portion 43. lThe 'head V33 is provided with a transverse opening 4l to receive a bar for assisting in inserting and removing the pin Y32 from the body 23. A long, pointed conical nose 42 is mounted on the spherical head 39 with a universal joint action. The upper end'of the nose 42 is provided with a circular Iopening having threaded walls 43 and .terminating in a hemispherical indentation 44 adapted to snugly receive the spherical head 39. A threaded gland 45 is screwed into the threaded opening 43. The gland-45 is provided with a spherical inner face 4S of smaller cross section than the head 39 whereby the nose 42 is held in place on the head. Suitable means may be provided for locking the gland45 in place,` such as the laterally extending flange 46 provided with holes for receiving bolts 4l which are screwed into threaded openings in the cone 42.

The casing roller of Fig. 3 is shown in place in a section of collapsed well casing 50 with the sharp point of the nose 42 entering the collapsed portion with a powerful wedging action.

While I have illustrated and described three specific embodiments of my invention, I do not desire to be limited to any of the details shown or Vdescribed herein, except` asdened in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A casing roller comprising a body adapted to be attached to a string of pipe, a plurality of cylindrical, axially spaced bearing surfaces on the body, cylindrical rollers mounted thereon and enclosing the body, said rollers having smooth vinner and outer surfaces, at least one of the rollers being mounted eccentrically to the axis of the pipe, the maximum diameter of the tool being substantially the same as the inside diameter of the casing to be rolled, and a downwardly tapered nose rotatably mounted on the lower end of the body. i

2. A casing roller comprising a body adapted to be attached to'a string of pipe, a plurality of axially spaced cylindrical bearing surfaces on the body, cylindrical rollers having smooth inner and outer surfaces mounted thereon, and enclosing the body, said roller comprising an upper rollerY mounted concentrically to the axis of the pipe and being of slightly less diameter than the inside diameter of the casing to be rolled, a lower roller mounted eccentrically to the axis of the pipe and being of substantially the same diameter as the inside diameter of the casing to be rolled, and a downwardly tapered nose rotatably mounted on the lowermost end of the body.

3. A casing roller comprising a body portion adapted tobe attached to a string of pipe and provided with a series of axially spaced non-rotatable bearing surfaces, cylin-drical rollers having smooth inner and outer surfaces mounted on said bearing surfaces, at least one of said rollers being mounted for rotation eccentric to the axis of `the pipe, and a downwardly tapered nose rotatably mounted on the lower end of said body in eccentric relation to the axis of the body.

4. A casing roller comprising a body portion adapted to be attached to a string of pipe and provided with a plurality of axially spaced, nonrotatable, cylindrical, bearing surfaces, cylindrical rollers having smooth inner and outer surfaces mounted on said bearing surfaces and enclosing said body, at least one of said rollers being offset eccentrically to the axis of the pipe, a spherical extension on the lower end of the body and offset eccentrically from the axis of the pipa-and a cone-shaped nose rotatably secured to s aid spherical extension whereby said nose has a universal joint motion. y Y

5. In a casing roller comprising a body portion adapte-d to be vattached to a string of pipe `and provided with a plurality of axially spaced cylindrical bearing surfaces, cylindrical rollers having smooth inner and outer surfaces mounted on said bearing spaces, at least one of said rollers being mounted for rotation eccentric to the axis of the pipe, a downwardly taperedcylindrical extension on the lower end of said body havin its axis parallel to the axis of the body, and a downwardly tapered conical nose rotatably mounted on said tapered extension. 

